No. 1251993·progressive-metal·4 blocks
Sober
Tool's breakthrough single, built entirely on dynamics — a brooding, restrained Drop-D verse that detonates into a crushing chorus. On Undertow (1993) Adam Jones cut it on his 1979 Les Paul Custom Silverburst into his modified mid-'70s Marshall Super Bass 100, the two channels jumpered together for an aggressive, saturated voice. This predates his Diezel multi-amp rig (which arrived on the later records). The quiet-to-loud swing is in the right hand and the guitar volume, not a pedal: a Plexi-family Marshall pushed hard, cleaning up when he eases off and roaring when he digs in.
UndertowSignal path · input → output · 4 blocksLive values · Kemper Profiler
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Custom (1979 Silverburst)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
drop_d
Noise Gate
Search Rig Exchange for 'Marshall Super Bass' or 'Plexi 100W'
Spring Reverb
Noise Gate
← Studio noise gate (FRFR essential)
Threshold
4.5dB
Volume
0
Search Rig Exchange for 'Marshall Super Bass' or 'Plexi 100W'
← Marshall Super Bass 100 (jumpered)
Gain
7
Bass
5
Middle
7
Treble
7
Presence
6
Spring Reverb
← Light studio ambience
Decay
0.8s
Predelay
15ms
Mix
0.1
Engineer's note
File 125
Tool's breakthrough single, built entirely on dynamics — a brooding, restrained Drop-D verse that detonates into a crushing chorus. On Undertow (1993) Adam Jones cut it on his 1979 Les Paul Custom Silverburst into his modified mid-'70s Marshall Super Bass 100, the two channels jumpered together for an aggressive, saturated voice. This predates his Diezel multi-amp rig (which arrived on the later records). The quiet-to-loud swing is in the right hand and the guitar volume, not a pedal: a Plexi-family Marshall pushed hard, cleaning up when he eases off and roaring when he digs in.
— Adam Jones
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